Gerard Manley Hopkins

A look at Hopkins’ use of images and sound to portray God’s presence in nature and life. Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poetry conveys his warm and joyful view of nature in the world he lived in. Hopkins’ use of literary techniques such as sound and imagery emphasize the beauty of God’s work found in nature. Nevertheless, not all of Hopkins’ poems are positive and exstatic. Hopkins is well known for his anthology of sad and gloomy poems known as the
“Terrible Sonnets” which he wrote during his 5 years living in Dublin, Ireland. As Hopkins was a jesuit Priest he had a big love for God and his creations. Throughout
Hopkins’ joyful poems he gives “glory...to God for dappled things”1 ,“the world is charged with the grandeur of God”2 and everything around us is beautiful thanks to God. This collection of poems clearly shows that Hopkins was at one stage a very glorious and thankful man and expresses such feelings through the use of powerful images, some exclaiming the sudden beauty of God in nature ­ “It will flame out, like the shining from shook foil”­ and others less directly, in a calmer fashion ­ “like the ooze of oil crushed.” The use of the word ooze, and its long “u” sound emphasizes how sometimes God’s beauty is not always instantly seen but takes time to sink into ones mind. Hopkins stated that his poems were better heard than sound and pressures his audience into hearing the poems rather than reading them in order to enhance the effect his use of sound has on the poem and the way one interprets it. Hopkins’ poem “Spring” is another of the celebrative joyful pieces which uses a great amount of powerful sounds to add to the effect of the poem. As Hopkins describes the season of spring he writes that growth during this time of the year is “long and lovely and lush”. The use of alliteration of the “L” sound followed by a vowel creates an image of never ending growth as the words themselves sound longer than they truly are. Hopkins use of